16 september 2008
20:13:17

I recently came across the concept called 'notan'. The word is of Japanese origin, and means "dark/light". The concept is about the distribution of light and dark over the surface of the picture, but also of the placement of lines. In the Westernized version, it is a way to plan, or map out, a painting using normally two to four values (sometimes more), in thumbnail sizes.

I like the idea very much, as it is very easy to keep in my head, even if it is not so easy to do the notans well. It is really great to be able to try out different ideas in 'maps' of light and dark that only takes 30 seconds each to do.

It is a learning process, for sure.

Today I completed one such effort, as I parttook in an event on WetCanvas. The reference photo is taken by Tressa Hommel.



After testing several ideas, I chose a close crop. Below I show the process in thumbnail size:



The notan is no larger than showed here. Had I chosen design looking for colour, the blooming bush would have been my focus. As I was looking for interesting plays of dark and light, the pillar became the area of interest, and the architectural elements.

And here is a larger image of the completed sketch:



The sketch can be viewed in the Works section on my website.